22 September 2020
The Weekly
Spain

Although the group has managed to return to positive ebitda in the second quarter of its fiscal year (between June 1 and August 31), it accumulated posttax losses of €510mn in the first three months of the year (March, April and May). The group lost €30mn in the same period last year. Sales have been cut in half in the first quarter, going from €3,307mn to €1,672mn, while ebitda has gone from a positive figure in these first three months of 172mn in 2019 to 211 losses this year. And in the same vein, the profit before tax has gone from a negative figure of €26mn to €684mn, something never seen in the company. By business lines, non-food distribution has reduced sales to less than half, to €925mn; food has risen 15%, to €759mn and the travel agency has gone from billing €690 to only €94mn. In the second quarter, El Corte Inglés has already recovered the level of sales of the previous year. In the months of June, July and August, the drop in sales compared to the previous year was 8, 16 and 14%, respectively. This has allowed the group to generate €679mn of positive cash flow.